An Awkward Situation
by Tihany
Summary: When a pile of rubble traps Odd and Ulrich in an . . . uncomfortable position, they are forced to face a severe dilemma that could change their friendship forever.


An Awkward Situation

A/N: Just a little oneshot to help me get my creative juices flowin'.

By the way, the reason chapter ten of The Truth Hurts is delayed is that I just got seasons 2-4 of Code Lyoko on DVD in the mail, so I've been plowing through it in all of my free time. I just can't stop watching it. XD

So now all of my information will be more up to date and much more accurate. And I have fallen in love with William's character, good, evil and stupid. :D

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><p>The metal slab dug into Odd's back in the most painful way, making any movement excruciating. Ulrich didn't look too comfortable either, as he was shouldering both the weight of Odd and the metal piece. Both boys were sweating and shaking, panting in pain.<p>

"How long do you think it'll take for someone to find us?" Odd tried to reposition his legs to relieve Ulrich of some of his weight, but found that the semi-splitz he was performing seemed permanent. However, it did bring to light that their predicament was a little more worrisome than they'd originally anticipated.

"I don't know…" Ulrich turned his head, cheeks red with embarrassment. "But I hope it's soon."

"Mm-hmm." Odd's own cheeks were growing red. "This is a nightmare."

They stayed as still as physically possible, though it was easier said than done. Every breath brought crippling agony to Odd, and made him jolt in shock. The sudden movement made their mess worse.

It seemed like an eternity before Ulrich decided to speak again. "Why do we always get the short stick?"

"'Cause you picked the shortest string bean." Odd's humor was as unfunny as ever, but no one could say he didn't try.

"Hah, very funny. Stop moving, you're making this more difficult than it needs to be."

"Oh, yeah, stop moving, easy for you to say." He jerked in pain once again. "You don't have this thing constantly jabbing you in the spine. I feel like I'm being stabbed in my back every time I take a breath."

"Ugh, this really is a mess."

"What have you guys gotten yourselves into this time?" Yumi's voice was filled with concern. The two, unable to move their heads, couldn't see her, but heard her footsteps growing nearer. "Oh my god! Are you hurt? Are you bleeding? Answer me!" She tugged on the metal scrap, unknowingly shifting Odd's weight again. The two boys gasped, a sound Yumi mistook for pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"No, no Yumi, we're not hurt," Ulrich said, trying to calm the terrified girl.

"No broken bones here! Though I don't know how much more my spine can handle. Or my hamstrings for that matter." Odd shuddered once again.

"Here, let me move it!" Yumi reached for the metal piece again. The boys called out, moving suddenly and shuddered.

"Don't! Just leave it! Go and get Jim and any other teacher that can lift it. Pushing it could just make things worse," Ulrich said evenly, trying to breathe as little as possible.

"Okay. I promise I'll be back right away!"

They listened to her footsteps fading, and both let out a quick breath. "Well, that's a relief. At least there's an end in sight and we'll be out of this predicament in ten minutes flat." Odd couldn't think of better news. Then again, his brain wasn't doing a good job of thinking at all. His legs were giving out under him and he could feel them shaking. He shuddered, a feeling completely unrelated to his legs.

Ulrich sighed in frustration at their horrible luck and tried to maneuver his arms to better hold up the steel slab. He managed to shelve some of the weight on his forearms, easing the tension on Odd's joints.

"Thanks, Ulrich, that helps a ton." Odd was truly grateful, but couldn't keep the wince from his face. He rearranged his legs just slightly to keep from stretching them so horribly, and gasped in relief. "Jeeze, the splitz were never so painful."

"Most guys would be ashamed to say they could do the splitz."

"I'm a proud gymnast, thank you very much. You can kick a ball around and I can dance around in the air. Who's the cool guy now?"

"In a sport dominated by women? I think I'm still the cool guy."

"'Cause playing a close contact sport with other sweaty, muscular men isn't gay at all. At least I'm in the sport where I get to hang around hot chicks."

The banter did little to ease their suffering, but at least distracted them slightly. Odd was then faced with a horrible dilemma that may just throw them ear-deep in crap.

He really needed to sneeze. It was killing him. The need was so great that he was afraid to breathe in through his nose for fear that the sneeze might just force its way out. Ulrich noticed that something was wrong and voiced his concern. Odd told him it was nothing and continued to breathe awkwardly through his mouth, avoiding the body reaction as long as possible.

"Ulrich . . ." Odd started, taking in a sudden breath, and jerking from the pain in his back.

"Uhr, what?" Ulrich bit his bottom lip for just a moment, trying not to fidget.

"I'm going to sneeze." To punctuate the statement, his lungs forced another deep breath in, sending pain down his spine once again.

"Can't you hold it in?" Ulrich looked panicky, but it was mostly for Odd. If he sneezed, or coughed, or did any major movement, the metal slab may actually do some damage to his back.

"No. It's killing me. I uh," He sucked in another quick breath, trembling in pain.

"Take shallow breaths in your mouth and out your nose. Long, shallow breaths." Ulrich was doing everything in his power to ease the pain Odd was going through.

"O-okay." Odd did as he was told, and the itch slowly subsided, making it a little easier to breathe, aside from the fixture in his back.

They were quiet once again, not trusting their lungs. That is, until they heard several footsteps coming their way from where Yumi's disappeared earlier. Relief filled their bodies as they realized they'd soon be free of this nightmare.

"Stern! Della Robbia! What happened here?" Jim's voice rang through the building. The two had never been so happy to hear their gym teacher's voice. "Let me get you out from under there!" He, similarly to Yumi, started out tugging at the large metal piece. The friction between the two teens was insane, and they both cried out, telling Jim to stop.

"Lift up! Lift up!" Ulrich was gasping, face painted red. Odd had hidden his own face in Ulrich's convenient chest.

"Oh, uh, hang on." Jim was probably scratching his head, putting his no doubt genius brain to the task. "Ishiyama, you and Dunbar work on that side and I'll get this one." The two boys could feel the shifting of the slab, grunting again at the motion. "On three: one, two," the metal moved, lifting up slightly, but they could only hold it up for so long before they lost their grips and it fell once again. Odd cried out in a mangled sound filled with pain and laced with something else. Ulrich mirrored the emotion in his own deep gasp. They couldn't hold out much longer. Odd was especially certain he'd have a bruise the size of Spain on his lower back.

"Sorry guys, lost our grip. We need another person." There was a pause. "Dunbar, call the fire department. They'll be able to get them out." They could hear someone flip a phone open and dial three numbers. Great, this was going to be disastrous.

"Let me see if I can ease the weight a bit," Jim said in what he must have thought was a soothing voice. He lifted one side of the slab up, trying to fit a brick under it to hold the weight slightly, but he couldn't get it under. He sat down in defeat, and set a hand gently on Odd's shoulder. "We'll get you out of this mess, you'll see." Odd grunted into Ulrich's shirt.

"What happened, anyway? You know it's dangerous to play around in a place like this."

_Of course Jim would scold us even when we're stuck under a pile of rubble._ "We weren't playing around, Jim; we were on our way somewhere." Ulrich coughed as he inhaled dust. Odd whined pathetically.

Yumi refused to give up, desperate to try and get her friends out of danger. She would occasionally try and move the slab, every time digging the boys deeper in trouble without realizing it. They were just reaching their breaking point when they heard sirens coming closer to the building. There were shouts and lots of footsteps, then voices near them.

Odd and Ulrich weren't really listening to what the emergency personnel were saying, they were just happy to be so close to being saved. Four men positioned themselves on each side of the slab, moving it just once more before lifting it. And once more was all it took to tear a startled cry from the two teens. They looked at each other with beet red cheeks and quickly broke eye contact. Ulrich looked at the wall to his left in the distance while Odd, once again, hid his face in the fabric of Ulrich's shirt. The paramedics lifted the slab, and once it was up enough for Odd to move, he shot out like a bullet, quickly followed by Ulrich.

They huddled next to walls, far from each other, legs shaking and refusing to stand. "We should take you in just to make sure there are no broken bones or severe internal injuries. That last move was hard on you two." One of the paramedics put a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"No, no, we'll be okay. Believe me, we're just fine. It was just . . . a bit of a shock when it suddenly hit me, ya know? We're fine." Odd pulled away from the man, edging closer to a nearby pillar.

"It's standard procedure, son. We have to make sure you're not seriously harmed in any way."

Odd pulled away once again and, in a burst of adrenalin, ran from the building faster than Jim had ever seen him sprint. Ulrich wasn't far behind him. They didn't stop running until they had locked their dorm room door behind them. Odd rushed to his closet and jerked out a pair of dark purple sweatpants, and Ulrich grabbed a pair of basketball shorts from his dresser. They changed without a single glance backwards at each other.

"We never speak a word of this to anyone." Ulrich's tone was even, but the humiliation in it was clear as day.

"My lips are sealed."

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><p>AN: I got this idea out of nowhere, and it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it out. Personally, I find it hilarious and giggle every time I think about it. Since there isn't any clear mention of what happened, although it's heavily implied, I don't think this deserves an M rating.


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